Readers' comments

Mr Mandelson is a controversial person. He was brought back to London from Brussels to help the labour party emmerge from the sad state it was in. Mandelson , once appointed Minister tried to build his own immage with one sinister motive in mind- to take over the leadership of labour. He is a person who likes to impose his way of looking at things and adverse to compromise. So there is nothing to be surprised of if he was more focused on his book rather than helping the labour party win the elections.

So no actual information on the Nigerian yellow cake and how Saddam can hit UK in 45 minutes? Reminds me a bit of the documentary on McNamara, "The fog of war", where the old dog blabs and blabs, but never ever actually mentions why they pursued the war and what was all about. As long as the book is a tabloid on the life of politicians, it brings no relevant information on why certain policies are or aren't pursued. As Agent Mulder use to say, "The truth is out there" but definitely not in the book.

This is the best review of the book I have read - the only one to get past the personal stuff to focus on the biggest issue - that the UK has a right to expect better government than this. New Labour isn't just diminished by these memoirs, it is comprehensively trashed.
Old Labour is now a threat to public services and public finances. New Labour is exposed as deeply flawed and totally incompetent. Until the election, no-one 'did the right thing' to bring this sorry state of affairs to an end.
Notwithstanding my sympathy with mandy jean cole, I have to say a hearty 'thank you' to the noble lord for shining some light on the whole sorry mess.

What a sorry bunch these people are. And to think they were the leading politicians in our previous Government. The mind boggles! And all Mandelson and Blair are now interested in is making money out of their sorry stories! I wouldn't buy either of their books. Suppose we might have Brown's version next. Hope it only goes on sale in Scotland.

The one good thing to come from the 'memoir' is that it will remove any type of nostalgia about the former big beasts of the Labour Party and whoever gets elected as the new Labour leader will be in the clear to make a clean break and consign the rogues to the dustbin of history.

I wonder if in ten years time there will be a Mandelson replica who dishes the dirt on the Cameron Camelot and the Coalition "Project". Will he say exactly the same things or is the new government really a break from the past?

In this blog, our Bagehot columnist surveys the politics of Britain, British life and Britain's place in the world. The column and blog are named after Walter Bagehot, an English journalist who was the editor of The Economist from 1861 to 1877. The blog is currently on hiatus after a change of Bagehot columnist.